Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng can return to Malaysia to assist in that nation’s 1MDB probe before serving a 10-year US sentence for his role in the looting of billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund, federal prosecutors in New York said.
Ng, a Malaysian national, was supposed to begin serving his sentence on Oct 6. But the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn, New York, said Thursday that the government had reached a deal with Malaysia by which Ng would instead surrender to US marshals for transport to the Southeast Asian nation.
US District Judge Margo Brodie, who presided over the case, approved the proposed order, which provides that Ng will immediately surrender to prison authorities upon his return to the US.
Ng, the only Goldman banker to go to trial over the epic fraud, also faces charges in his home country. The Malaysian government in 2019 agreed that he could be extradited to the US to first face prosecution there. Malaysian authorities had said the extradition treaty between the two countries required that Ng be returned home to help that nation with its investigation.
A Brooklyn federal jury convicted Ng in April 2022 of conspiring with his former Goldman boss Tim Leissner and financier Jho Low in the multibillion-dollar looting of 1MDB. Prosecutors said Ng received millions of dollars in kickbacks from three bond deals Goldman Sachs arranged for 1MDB.
Leissner pleaded guilty and was the star witness at Ng’s trial. Low remains a fugitive.
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The start of Ng’s US prison sentence was twice delayed previously due to negotiations between the US and Malaysian governments. He was also given a three-month delay in May to spend time with his family.
Goldman paid more than US$5 billion ($6.82 billion) in fines and settlements for its role in the scheme. Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was convicted in Malaysia and is serving a 12-year prison term for his role in the 1MDB scandal.
The case is US v. Ng, 18-cr-538, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
